What is Romance?
Romance is a genre defined by its happy ending. In fact, a happy ending is so crucial that love stories that do not end with a Happily Ever After (HEA) or a Happy for Now (HFN) are not considered Romance. Typically, Romance focuses on the emotional and physical connections between people. The core story is about the relationship. The characters are expected to go both on personal journeys and journeys together. And the couple should be better together than without each other. No matter the plot or subgenre, this core story is the heart of any Romance.
What is a trope?
Romance is full of tropes. Tropes are common themes or plot devices. For example, imagine the characters are on a road trip. How does an author get them to spend more time together? Perhaps, the hotel or inn only has one room available, so the characters have to share! To take this trope even further, the room might only have one bed. Will someone sleep on the floor? Will they share? Many authors put their own spin on tropes, but when reading a Romance, tropes can often provide comfort. You know what to expect. And if you like a particular trope, you can seek out more books that contain that trope.
Trope: Amnesia
When a character suffers from amnesia, they often forget who they are and who they were. Amnesia often comes after an accident. This plot device can be used to rekindle a stagnant relationship and give the characters a second chance at love. It can also be used to hide a person of power. For example, the heir (or Duke or Earl, etc.) was thought to be dead or missing, but they’ve been alive the whole time and don't remember who they were. This is an example of a classic "lost heir" plot. Sometimes, amnesia is used in Romantic Suspense to build tension. For example, one protagonist may not remember why they are running or who they are on the run from, meaning there is an unknown danger both main characters must face. In other stories, a lie told to the character suffering from amnesia builds tension because the reader knows that there is a chance the character is going to remember who they are or what has happened to them. For example, if a character lies about being married to the amnesiac, a reader can expect that the truth will be revealed and the characters will have to deal with the emotional fallout of the lie.
Recommendations
Contemporary Romance
When law student Cass Walker wakes up after surviving a car accident, she is flooded with memories of her boyfriend, Devin. The only problem? Devin doesn't exist. But everything she remembers about him feels so real, like the precise shade of his coffee-brown eyes, the texture of his favorite hand-me-down scarf, even the slightly crooked angle of his pinkie, broken after falling off a trampoline in third grade. She knows he's a figment of her imagination--friends, family, and doctors confirm it--but she still can't seem to get him out of her head. So when she runs into the real Devin a year later in a Cleveland flower shop, she's completely shocked. Even more surprising is that Devin actually believes her story, and soon they embark on a real-life romance. With her dream man by her side and an upcoming summer job at a prestigious law firm, Cass's future seems perfect. But fate might have other plans...
With a headline spot on a hit morning show and truly mouth-watering culinary skills, chef Evie Buchanan is perched on the edge of stardom. But at an industry party, a fall lands Evie in the hospital--with no memory of who she is. Scrambling to help, Evie's assistant contacts the only "family" Evie has left, close friends who run the luxury dude ranch in California where Evie grew up. Evie has no recollection of them--until former rodeo champion Zach Pleasant walks into her hospital room, and she realizes his handsome face has been haunting her dreams. Zach hasn't seen Evie in years--not since their families conducted a campaign to make sure their childhood friendship never turned into anything more. When the young cowboy refused to admit the feelings between them were real, Evie left California, making it clear she never wanted to see Zach again. Now he refuses to make the same mistake twice. Starting fresh is a risk when they have a history she can't recall, but Zach can't bear to let go of her now.
It's been one year since ex-Navy SEAL Ethan Kelly last saw his wife, Rachel, alive. Overwhelmed by grief and guilt over his failures as a husband, Ethan shuts himself off from everything and everyone. His brothers have tried to bring Ethan into the KGI fold, tried to break through the barriers he's built around himself, but Ethan refuses to respond...until he receives an anonymous note claiming Rachel is alive. To save her, Ethan will have to dodge bullets, cross a jungle, and risk falling captive to a deadly drug cartel that threatens his own demise. And even if he succeeds, he'll have to force Rachel to recover memories she doesn't want to relive--the minute-by-minute terror of her darkest hour--for their love, and their lives, may depend on it.
Torn between two men, Kailey Crane is faced with an impossible choice: embrace the bright future she has with her new fiancé or dedicate herself to reclaiming a past love that may be gone forever. When Kailey met Cade ten years ago, their attraction was immediate and intense, but it all ended suddenly, leaving Kailey devastated. Now Cade is another homeless soul; his mind has suffered in the intervening years. When they meet, Kailey helps Cade begin to piece his life together, something she initially keeps from Ryan. Amidst the Seattle music scene of the 90s, Kailey must discover what she's willing to save and what she will sacrifice for true love.
Historical Romance
Falcon Hunt traveled west, compelled to start a new life by a surprise telegram that promised him an inheritances and a family in Wyoming. But shortly after arriving, he wakes in a river, completely unaware of who or where he is. As he tries to regain his memory, he meets two men who claim to be his half brothers and the prettiest woman in the area Cheyenne Brewster. Only trouble is, a few flashes of memory make Falcon wonder if he's already married. Falcon immediately draws Cheyenne's ire as he so closely resembles her no-good stepfather who swindled her out of inheriting her mother's property. But despite her resentments, she has to admit these newcomers' presence has some appeal, especially after Falcon steals a kiss. When shootings start happening on the ranch, it's clear someone is gunning for the Hunt brothers. Falcon and Cheyenne set out to find who is behind the attacks, but it'll take all their savvy and skill to deal with their enemies and the potentially forbidden love growing between them.
With her brother Thomas injured on the battlefront in the Colonies, orphaned Cecilia Harcourt has two unbearable choices: move in with a maiden aunt or marry a scheming cousin. Instead, she chooses option three and travels across the Atlantic, determined to nurse her brother back to health. But after a week of searching, she finds not her brother but his best friend, the handsome officer Edward Rokesby. He’s unconscious and in desperate need of her care, and Cecilia vows that she will save this soldier’s life, even if staying by his side means telling one little lie. When Edward comes to, he’s more than a little confused. The blow to his head knocked out three months of his memory, but surely he would recall getting married. Cecilia risks her entire future by giving herself—completely—to the man she loves. But when the truth comes out, Edward may have a few surprises of his own for the new Mrs. Rokesby.
The Duke of Rydstrom requires a wife. Preferably one with a large fortune and a complete lack of curiosity. The last thing he needs is a meddling matchmaker determined to dig up his dark family secrets. All Jacinda wants is to find a bride for a duke. How hard could that be? He's handsome, enigmatic...and hiding something. Determined to discover what it is, she travels to his crumbling cliffside estate. Yet by the time she washes up on his beach, she can no longer remember who she is or why the duke is so familiar to her. All she knows is that his kisses are unforgettable--and she intends to use every skill she can to discover what's in his heart.
Surviving a shipwreck en route to London from Jamaica was just the start of Jemina St. Maur's nightmare. Suffering from amnesia, she was separated from anyone who might know her and imprisoned in Bedlam. She was freed only because barrister Daniel Thackery, Lord Ashbrook, was convinced to betray the one thing he holds dear: the law. Desperate to unearth her true identity, Jemina's only chance is to purloin dangerous secrets with help from The Widow's Grace - which means staying steps ahead of the formidable Daniel, no matter how strongly she is drawn to him. Married only by proxy, now widowed by shipwreck, Daniel is determined to protect his little stepdaughter, Hope, from his family's scandalous reputation. That's why he has dedicated himself not just to the law, but to remaining as proper, upstanding - and boring - as can be. But the closer he becomes to the mysterious, alluring Jemina, the more Daniel is tempted to break the very rule of law to which he's devoted his life.
If you missed parts one, two and three, click here for Romance featuring Fake Relationships, Sports Romance, and Widows & Widowers.
Brittany
Information Specialist
Post Road Library
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